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Draw long and prosper at Star Trek-themed art show

The exhibition timed to Star Trek’s 50th anniversary is free with admission to The CNE.

Co-curator Wade Holli Buchanan talks about the fine details in "The Final Frontier," an oil on canvas painting by Nicky Barkla. (Andrew Lahodynskyj / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Mayim Bialik, of fellow CBS series the Big Bang Theory, is featured in photographer Christopher Ryan Ross' piece, as Captain Kirk, Janice Rand, and Spock.

Marco D'Alfonso's "Boldly Go," is just one such piece from the Toronto-based graphic artist, who says he takes inspiration from his childhood of watching Saturday morning cartoons, comics, and pop culture.

Star Trek has been living long and prospering for 50 years, when it was first beamed into living rooms across the world.

To mark the milestone, a collection of Trekkie art is making a stop at this year’s CNE, alongside a Star Trek-themed bar and trivia nights.

Housed in the EnerCare Centre, the Star Trek: 50 Artists. 50 Years show features paintings, sculpture, photography and prints all commissioned by CBS, the TV studio that produced the original series, as the franchise embarks on a new generation of fandom.

Toronto marks the third stop on the show’s international tour following its debut at San Diego Comic Con last month. Organizers hope to visit a dozen cities over the next year. Canada was a natural choice, with four Canadian artists featured, said co-curator Wade Buchanan.

“We’re going to trek across the world, so Canada made sense and Toronto’s a beautiful city,” he said.

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Toronto will be hosting a new brand of space voyagers, as a new TV series (not to be confused with the film reboots) will start shooting here in the fall and premiere in January.

The pieces are mainly original commissions for the show, and though only a handful of the participating artists had displayed Star Trek-themed pieces in the past, all are fans, says Buchanan.

“That was a very important part of it, in talking to them and making sure that they felt comfortable in bringing something special to the table,” he said.

Toronto-based graphic artist Marco D’Alfonso contributed “Boldly Go,” a print playing on the series’ transporter motif. A “huge fan,” he recalls his ’80s childhood gathered round the TV, in awe of the futuristic aesthetic.

“It was a family ritual in our household to catch the reruns of the original series,” he said. “Everything just had a really cool fresh design to it, definitely a huge inspiration to me.”

While all the artists had some connection to the franchise, none can quite match the pedigree of Leonard Nimoy, who played the iconic Mr. Spock on the original television series and reprised his role in subsequent films, later iterations of the show, and countless guest appearances.

“It’s quintessential. He’s at the core of the series,” Buchanan said of Nimoy, who died in February 2015 after being diagnosed with lung disease.

“It gives a moment with the fans to collect their thoughts about it and process it,” he said, adding fans have broken into tears at the sight of a piece by Nimoy, one of the first to greet audiences inside the gallery.

Along with American and Canadian artists, the work comes from 10 countries in all, including Australia, China, and France.

“In keeping with the forward-thinking of the series we want to incorporate various interpretations from all around the world, how the series is impacting different cultures from all around the world,” Buchanan said.

Navigating space alongside navigating the moral and social mores of diverse civilizations has been an enduring theme of the series, says the co-curator and fan.

“It keeps resonating with people because there’s always that component,” Buchanan said. “We’re always talking about diversity, cultural components, technology and how it can better ourselves. And that’s basically at the core of Star Trek.”

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